The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 651
PT. 15 AL-KAHF CH. 18 إِلَّا أَن يَشَاءَ اللهُ وَاذْكُرُ رَّبَّكَ إِذَا. Unless Allah should will. 25 And remember thy Lord when نَسِيتَ وَقُلْ عَلَى أَنْ يَهْدِيَنِ رَبِّي thou forgettest, and say, I hope لِاقْرَبَ مِنْ هَذَا رَشَدًا my Lord will guide me to what is even nearer than this to the right path. '2065 وَلَبِثُوا فِى كَهْفِهِمْ ثَلَثَ مِائَةٍ سِنِينَ And they stayed in their. 26 وَازْدَادُوا تِسْعًا Cave three hundred years, and added nine more. 2066 "18:40; 74:57; 76:31; 81:30. which they would have fallen. The verse may also mean that in the time of their decline and degradation Muslims will lose all initiative for any real and useful work and will indulge only in daydreaming and holding out impotent threats to their enemies. All their activities will then remain confined to talking about the future and they would do nothing to improve their miserable lot. Some commentators of the Quran have given currency to the baseless legend that this verse admonishes the Holy Prophet that he should never fail to utter the formula abi. e. "If God so wills it," while beginning to do any work, because on one occasion before doing a certain thing he had forgotten to utter this formula. There is no reference here to any such legend. 2065. Commentary: The verse purports to say to Muslims that in their hour of despondency and helplessness before the irresistible might of Christian nations, they should not for a moment entertain the idea that they can ever successfully fight them with material means. On the contrary, they should have firm faith in God's promises that He would never let Islam down and would Himself create circumstances that would bring about the complete downfall and destruction of these nations. 2066. Commentary: to This verse sheds some light on the duration of the period in which early were subjected Christians persecution and had frequently to take refuge in caves and other places of concealment. This period extends over 309 years and historical data have corroborated this calculation. As popularly believed the persecution of Christians began with Jesus' Crucifixion in 28 A. D. and ended with the Emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in 337 A. D. (Enc. Brit. , 14th edition, vol. 5), a period of about 309 years. These dates, however, are not correct. If we delve a little more deeply into the history of early Christianity the fact is disclosed to us that Emperor Constantine did not become a Christian in 337 A. D. as is the 1859